Toilet appliance.



J. A. F. BANNER.

TOILET APPLIANCE.

, I APPLICATION FILED FEB-11.1915. Ll filg Patent-ed 11, 1915.

2 SHE HEET I.

j/VI/E/VTOR Jjmaer MTORNEYS J. A. F. DANNER.

TOILET APPLIANCE.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. II. I915. 1 139 351 0 Patented May 11, 1910.

2 SHEETS-SHEET Z.

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w fl Z I A TTOR/I/EYS JOHN a. E. EAN EE, 0E ELIZABETH, NEW :rEnsEir.

TOILET APPLIANCE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 11, 1915.

Application filed February 11, 1915. Serial 1T0. 7,531.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, JOHN A. DANNER, a subject of the Emperor of Germany, and a resident of Elizabeth, in the county of Union and State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Toilet Appliances, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to mechanical means for using toilet paper in connection with water-closets, and one of the main objects thereof is to provide such means which obviate the usual manual manipulation of such paper.

A further object is to provide such means which areoperable entirely from the exterior of the bowl of the closet.

A further object is to so construct the mechanical means as to be capable of movement rearwardly and forwardly ofthe bowl.

A further object is to provide a suitable feed for the paper so as to insure the provision of clean paper in the successive uses of the device; and further objects are to provide such devices which are simple in construction and use, well adapted to the purpose for which they are designed, composed of few parts not likely to get out of order, and comparatively inexpensive.

My invention is fully described in the following specification, of which the accompanying drawings form a part, in which like reference characters refer to like parts in each of the views, and in which Figure 1 is a central, longitudinal, vertical, section taken through a water-closet provided with my device; Fig. 2 is a section, enlarged, taken on the line 2-2 of Fig. 4; Fig. 3 is a section taken on the line 33 of Fig. 2; Fig. 4 is a section taken on the line 44 of Fig. 1; Fig. 5 is a front elevation of the device, showing the relative position of the toilet paper; Fig. 6 is a section taken on the line 66 of Fig. 1, enlarged; and Fig. 7 is a section taken on the line 77 of Fig. 4.

In the drawings forming a part of this application I have shown a present preferred form of embodiment of my invention in connection with a closet bowl 8 having a seat 9 and a hinged cover 10, of the usual or any desired construction, and I provide a bracket 11 for a roller 12 adapted to support "a roll of toilet paper 13, said seat having the usual opening 14 therein and being supported above the bowl by means of the relatively thick rear support 15 therefor and resilient posts 16 at the forward end.

Beneath the seat 9, at each side of the opening 14, I provide a longitudinally arranged guiding strip 17 for two corresponding plates 18 arranged transversely of the seat and joined, centrally of the seat, by means of a yoke 19, Figs. 1, 2, 4 and 5, said plates being slid-able in the respective guides and'being bent around the respective guiding strips, as shown at 20, Fig. 5, to maintain the desired relationship between said plates and said guiding strips.

J ournaled in the yoke 19, at its junction with the plates 18, is a shaft 21 provided with a handled crank-arm 22 exterior of the bowl 8 and with a soft, flexible, disk 23 within the yoke 19, Figs. 4 and 6, and said shaft also carries two arms 24, one on each side of said disk, formed of loops of spring wire, the members 25 of which are inclined toward and bear against said disk in a resilient manner and serve as means for gripping the toilet paper between themselves and said disk.

Pivoted at 2626 to the forward part of the yoke 19 are two rearwardly directed, spring, plates 2'727, Fig. 7 normally held at an incline, by means of a spring 28, in such manner as to have the lower edges thereof bear against the respective sides of the disk 23, but permitted to move away from said disk because of their pivotal supports, although returned to normal positions by said spring 28.

Because of the guiding strips 17,,the device may be moved forwardly and rearwardly along the under part of the seat as an entirety, in order to properly locate the same for the use of different persons, and the device may, if desired, be pushed back out of the way when not required. In practice, the end of the toilet paper is tucked between the disk and the spring arms 24 and in which position it is held for feeding by revolving the disk through an arc of a circle by means of the crank arm 22, said arm also serving as the means for moving the device as a whole forwardly and rearwardly of the seat.

When a person is ready to use the device, he grasps the crank arm 22 and forces it downwardly, this carrying the paper downwardly and revolving the disk 23 because of the frictional contact therewith of the spring arms 24, said disk being loosely mounted on its shaft, and this movement carries a new sheet in operative position. This frictional contact is insured by means of the spring arms 24, or members 25 thereof, sliding down the inner inclined surfaces of the respective plates 27-27, said spring plates yielding to allow the spring arms to pass below the same. When the crank arm is again moved upwardly to normal position, the spring arms slide along the outer inclined surfaces of the spring plates 27-27 and are freed from-contact with the paper and the disk until the tops of said spring plates have been reached, at which time said spring arms again move into disk contact and rengagement with the paper, but at another point, this double crank arm movement feeding a predetermined amount of paper in each operation. The device, as a whole, may now be moved forwardly in its guides into operative position, and oscillated forwardly and rea'rwardly to accomplish the desired purpose, after which the crank arm may be forced downwardly to carry the soiled paper downwardly out of operative position and feed-a clean sheet to operative position, this being repeated as often as desired; after use, the device may be again forced rearwardly of the seat, in readiness for another use of the toilet. In the upward movement of the crank arm, when the spring arms 24: are released from the disk, the spring plates 27-27 bear against said disk and hold the paper in place until the feeding arms 24 re engage the paper at a point at a.predetermined distance toward the roll .of paper, ready for another forward feeding of the aper.

It will thus be seen that I provide a device which obviates the present manual use of the disk 23 when not in use; which forms a component part of the water-closet; and which is very simple and comparatively inexpensive.

Having fully described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters' Patent, is

1. The combination with a water-closet, of means for supporting a roll of paper, a shaft extending transversely of and movable longitudinally of said closet, a flexible disk loosely mounted thereon, spring arms for holding said paper in operative position over said disk, and means for oscillating said shaft and disk for the purpose specified.

2. The combination with a water-closet, of means for supporting a roll of paper, a shaft extending transversely of and movable longitudinally of said closet, means for guiding said shaft longitudinally of and beneath the seat of said closet, a flexible disk loosely mounted on said shaft and adapted to receive'a portion of said paper, spring arms holding said paper in operative position on said disk, means for revolving said disk and arms to feed said paper forwardly, and means for oscillating said disk and paper when in operative position for the purpose specified.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

JOHN A. F. DANNER.

Witnesses:

JOHN SALCHER, ROBERT KAREK. 

